[ArathornJax]

Voronwe the Faithful over at two other sites states that (he is a lawyer in CA) he believes that yes, it could make it easier for the Estate to settle in time with New Line at a reduce amount probably, and that is what will probably happen next year. The prospect of stripping New Line is still in play but may be unlikely as he points out that the ruling "does show that the judge does not seem to be sympathetic to the plaintiffs' rather over the top legal positions. I think the judge, like myself, sees this as a straightfoward breach of contract case. But it certainly can be very tricky to predict what a judge will do on one issue based on what she does on other issue."

The court found that the compliant supports nothing more than a breach of contract cause of action, so no fraud was attempted. The plantiffs (the Tolkien Estate and their lawyers) have 20 days now to amend the compliant to show new evidence of fraud, something probably unlikely.

It would be nice to if New Line would just pay what they owe the Estate, but I guess that is the issue, how much they feel they actually owe the Estates, or how little they can get away with paying them. Again though this is only round one of a very long fight more than likely.